Link Found Between Calcium and Boys' Metabolism

[Guest guest]

I found the following article to be of particular interest. Caution - this is

just a preliminary study and further evaluation and studies are needed to find

the true connection between calcium and metabolism. Also what applies to to

young boys does not necessarily apply to older boys (men) or women for matter.

Ralph Giarnella MD

Southington Ct USA

**************************************

www.medscape.com

From Reuters Health Information

Link Found Between Calcium and Boys' Metabolism

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) May 12 - Boys who get plenty of calcium in their diets

may use more calories at rest compared with boys who consume less calcium, a new

study suggests.

The findings, reported online April 19th in the Journal of Pediatrics, may help

explain why some studies have linked higher calcium intake to lower body-fat

levels in children and adults.

For the study, Dr. Fernandez at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and

colleagues looked at the relationship between children's reported calcium intake

and their resting energy expenditure.

Calcium is known to help regulate metabolism, so if it has effects on body fat

accumulation, it may do so by influencing calorie use at rest, the researchers

reasoned.

The researchers collected detailed dietary information from a multiethnic cohort

of 315 children ages 7 to 12. They recorded the children's body fat levels and,

after an overnight stay in the research lab, their resting calorie expenditure.

Overall, the researchers found, there was no strong direct relationship between

the children's calcium intake and their levels of body fat. There was, however,

a correlation between higher calcium intake and higher resting metabolism. And a

higher resting metabolism, in turn, was related to lower body-fat levels.

When the researchers looked at boys and girls separately, they found that the

link between calcium and resting metabolism was apparent only in boys.

The findings, according to Dr. Fernandez, suggest that calcium may affect

body-fat accumulation via its influence on resting energy expenditure.

It's not clear why the association was seen only in boys. " We think it may have

to do with reproductive hormones, " Dr. Fernandez said, " but we don't know yet. "

Estrogen, he and his colleagues note, is known to encourage fat accumulation,

while testosterone drives the buildup of lean body tissue.

The ultimate impact of calcium on body weight, however, remains uncertain. Many

factors -- from genetics to overall diet and exercise levels to socioeconomics

-- influence a person's risk of becoming overweight or obese, and the relative

importance of calcium is unknown.

Much more research is needed, Dr. Fernandez said, including studies into how

calcium might affect body fat differently according to age, sex and race or

ethnicity.

http://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476%2810%2900209-X/abstract

Journal of Pediatrics 2010.

Reuters Health Information © 2010